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Region

Yên Bái

Home of Văn Yên cinnamon, a geographical indication since 2010

The former northern province behind Văn Yên cinnamon: what national guidance and the research say about its trees, its bark and its seasons — and what they leave out.

Administrative note. Merged into Lào Cai province on 1 July 2025. Geographical indications and most sources still use the name Yên Bái.

Last reviewed · How we know

A wide, calm river winding between green hills, with sandbanks and scrub in the foreground and partly cleared hillsides on the right bank
The Red River in Văn Yên district, Yên Bái (now part of Lào Cai), seen from provincial road 163 on 26 December 2016. A view of the district, not a photograph of cinnamon trees.Photo: User:Vmenkov· CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · Cropped and resized
Yên Bái, shown on pre-2025 province boundaries.

Products from this region

  • CinnamonCinnamomum loureiroi

    Văn Yên and Trấn Yên are seed-source areas in national guidance; Văn Yên cinnamon has a geographical indication (2010).1,2

Why Yên Bái matters for cinnamon

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture names two areas of Yên Bái — Văn Yên (Van Yen) and Trấn Yên (Tran Yen) — among the country’s cinnamon seed-source areas.1 Its 2022 guidance for growers describes these as areas where cinnamon grows well, with thick bark and a high content and quality of essential oil.1 A 2024 report by Vietnam’s chamber of commerce names Yên Bái among the provinces where the country’s planted cinnamon, “up to 180,000 hectares”, is concentrated.3

Văn Yên cinnamon received a geographical indication in 2010.2 It is the oldest of the three Vietnamese cinnamon indications in our sources; Trà My followed in October 2011 and Trà Bồng on 23 November 2020.4,5

Yên Bái is now part of Lào Cai

On 1 July 2025 Yên Bái was merged into Lào Cai province.6 The geographical indication and most sources still use the name Yên Bái, and so does this page. Văn Yên and Trấn Yên are former districts. The merged province also contains the four Lào Cai seed-source areas named in the same guidance — Bắc Hà, Văn Bàn, Bảo Yên and Bảo Thắng1 — so today’s Lào Cai holds six of the country’s named cinnamon seed-source areas.

Which cinnamon tree grows in Yên Bái?

The answer is less settled than a label suggests. A 2004 field survey of cinnamon in Vietnam suggested that bark from Yên Bái may come from Cinnamomum cassia, while bark from Trà My, in Quảng Nam, comes from C. loureiroi. The two barks looked alike, and the Trà My bark contained much more oil.7 The authors present the Yên Bái attribution as a suggestion, not a finding, and we report it that way.

National guidance does not separate the two: Vietnam’s 2022 grower guidance names the cultivated tree C. cassia,1 while the international trade standard and US regulations assign Saigon cinnamon to C. loureiroi.8,9 What this means for a jar on a shelf is covered in Saigon vs Ceylon cinnamon.

When cinnamon bark is peeled

We found no source that gives separate peeling months for Văn Yên or Trấn Yên. The national guidance sets two seasons for the whole country.

Cinnamon peeling seasons in Vietnam’s national guidance
SourceJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Spring peeling season1Mar–Apr
Autumn peeling season1Aug–Oct
National guidance from the Ministry of Agriculture, not a Yên Bái calendar.

The same guidance sets the tree’s timetable: bark from thinnings from year 4–5, selective harvests at years 10–12 and 14–15, and a main harvest of trees over 15 years old. Trees are girdled a week before felling, and bark is peeled in 40–60 cm sections.1 The full sequence is in from tree to bark.

From Yên Bái bark to trade

After peeling, bark is washed, sorted and dried on tarpaulins — never on bare ground — then bundled. National guidance grades it by where it grew on the tree and by thickness: grade A over 5 mm, B 2.5–5 mm, C under 2.5 mm.1

Export statistics are published for Vietnam as a whole, not by province. In 2025 the country exported 120,295 tonnes of cinnamon worth US$300.2 million, as reported by the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association.10 How much of that came from Yên Bái is not reported in our sources. Species, grades and markets are covered in the Vietnamese cinnamon guide.

Image credits

  1. “Van Yen District - Hwy DT163 - P1380765” by User:Vmenkov, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.

Sources

10 sources · 5 primary · 1 scientific · 2 industry · 2 secondary. Source classes and how we weigh them: methodology.

  1. 1

    Hướng dẫn kỹ thuật trồng, chăm sóc, khai thác cây Quế (kèm Quyết định 14/QĐ-BNN-TCLN)

    PrimaryMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam2022-01-05Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Technical guidance for growers: seed-source areas (III.1), harvest seasons (VI.2b), harvesting and bark grading (VIII), processing and packing (IX). Names the cultivated tree “Cinamomum cassia BL.” (sic).

  2. 2

    Sức sống cây quế Văn Yên

    SecondaryNhân DânAccessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Văn Yên cinnamon geographical indication granted in 2010.

  3. 3

    Indonesia is Vietnam’s largest cinnamon import market

    IndustryAEC-VCCI (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry)2024-11-01Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Planted area “up to 180,000 hectares” and the main growing provinces.

  4. 4

    Thơm lừng hương quế Trà My

    PrimaryMinistry of Industry and Trade of VietnamAccessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Trà My cinnamon geographical indication granted October 2011.

  5. 5

    Quế Trà Bồng — từ non cao đi khắp năm châu

    SecondaryTạp chí Công ThươngAccessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Trà Bồng cinnamon geographical indication granted 23 November 2020.

  6. 6

    Nghị quyết 202/2025/QH15 về việc sắp xếp đơn vị hành chính cấp tỉnh

    PrimaryNational Assembly of Vietnam (text on luatvietnam.vn)2025-06-12Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Yên Bái merged into Lào Cai; Quảng Nam into Đà Nẵng city; Kon Tum into Quảng Ngãi; Bắc Kạn into Thái Nguyên; Bình Phước into Đồng Nai (point 17; checked against the hoatieu.vn copy of the text on 2026-10-07). In force 1 July 2025.

  7. 7

    Field Survey of Cinnamon in Viet Nam

    ScientificIto M, Shimada Y, Kiuchi F, Tran Kim Qui, Honda GNatural Medicines 58(4):168–1762004Accessed 2026-10-07Abstract read

    The authors write that the attribution of Yên Bái bark to C. cassia “might be suggested”; we report it as a suggestion, not a finding.

  8. 8

    ISO 6538:1997 Cassia, Chinese type, Indonesian type and Vietnamese type — Specification (third edition at FDIS stage)

    PrimaryInternational Organization for Standardization1997Accessed 2026-10-07Title and status only (paid text)

    Title and status only. The standard is paid; its numeric limits are not reproduced here. ISO/FDIS 6538 has been at stage 50.00 since 2026-09-11.

  9. 9

    21 CFR 182.10 — Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings

    PrimaryUS Code of Federal Regulations (Cornell LII)Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    Lists “Cassia, Saigon” and “Cinnamon, Saigon” as Cinnamomum loureirii Nees.

  10. 10

    Xuất khẩu quế đem lại 300 triệu USD

    IndustryTạp chí Thuế Hải quan, reporting the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (VPSA)2026-01-08Accessed 2026-10-07Read in full

    2025 exports, markets and imports, as reported by VPSA.